Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Downgraded to “Underperform” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $28.00 target price on the airline’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 16.73% from the company’s previous close.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.32.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

LUV stock opened at $33.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.60.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.